Romero, Azeri, PG, Best Pal make Hall; Vets add 3 inc. Pierce

[Kasept]

Jockey Romero, Three Horses to Hall of Fame
By Ron Mitchell

Jockey Randy Romero and three horses--Azeri, Best Pal, and Point Given —have been elected into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. for 2010.

The induction ceremony will take place Aug. 13 at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Saratoga.

Under a new voting format undertaken by the Hall of Fame committee for this year, candidates were no longer segmented by category. Voters could vote for up to four of the horses and individuals listed on the ballot, and the four with the highest number of votes were elected. As a result of the new process, neither of the two trainers who were among the finalists—Gary Jones and Robert Wheeler—were elected to the Hall of Fame this year.

As the only jockey elected to the Hall this year, Romero will be inducted on the basis of a career in which he won 4,294 races from 26,091 from 1973-99. With a career win rate of 16%, Romero’s mounts earned more than $75.2 million. Included among his 122 graded stakes victories were Breeders’ Cup World Championship wins with top distaffers Go for Wand and the undefeated Personal Ensign. With 342 total stakes wins to his credit, Romero won titles at 10 tracks, including Belmont Park, Arlington Park, Gulfstream Park, Keeneland, and Fair Grounds.